Tennessee Titans

HISTORY
Founded as the Houston Oilers as an original member of the AFL in 1960. Joined the NFL in 1970 as part of the AFL/NFL merger. Relocated as the Tennessee Oilers in 1997. Officially changed name to Tennessee Titans in 1999.

CHAMPIONSHIP SUMMARY
League Championships: 2 - 1960 (AFL), 1961 (AFL)

Conference Championships: 1 - 1999 (AFC)

Division Championships: 8 - 1960 (AFL East), 1961 (AFL East), 1962 (AFL East), 1967 (AFL East), 1991 (AFC Central), 1993 (AFC Central), 2000 (AFC Central), 2002 (AFC South)

Playoff Appearances: 19 - 1960, 1961, 1962, 1967, 1969, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993, 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003

2005 Finish: 4-12, 3 rd Place AFC South

Recent Records:

2004: 5-11 2005: 4-12 2006: 8-8

2008 NFL DRAFT GRADES

Tennessee Titans: D+

Do I like watching Chris Johnson tear up defenses like a collegiate version of Barry Sanders? You betcha. This kid is scary fast, and he will make plays in the NFL from Day 1 - but will he ever be a #1 back? I don’t think so. That’s why I can’t justify making him the 24th overall pick. He’ll be a great lightning to LenDale’s thunder, but they need more. Still, I can see that they might have thought Johnson to be the best receiver in the draft, and a guy that could help at running back. We’ll see how he works out, he sure is a highlight film waiting to happen and I can’t wait to watch him. I still think it was a reach.

Jason Jones wasn’t a consistent force last season, even though he played at little old Eastern Michigan. He’ll get a lot of single blocks coming his way with the rest of the beasts on the defensive line getting most of the blocking attention, so I guess we’ll see if he can hang.

Craig Stevens - seriously? There were some very good receivers waiting to get drafted and these guys go with Stevens. Now I think Craig is one hell of a blocking TE, but does that spell 3rd rounder? Not in my dictionary. This was a reach.

William Hayes was another reach - trend? - yes. He’s from a very small school and it looks like the Titans are now looking under every stone to try and grab a replacement for Antwan Odom.

Lavelle Hawkins is a nice player. He’s not as fast as DeSean Jackson was, but I think he was more consistent. He catches the ball well and was very good at the senior bowl. He runs fast in pads, and while that doesn’t seem to mean much on draft day, it is important on the field.

Stanford Keglar will be a special teams guy. He was a workout warrior in the off-season which got him drafted this early. He’s not known as a tough guy, but some like to think he was worth the risk with all his great combine stats. Stats are dumb.

Cary Williams worked out very well and has nice size. I don’t know anything about him except he transferred from Fordham to Washburn - interesting move.

Lots of great numbers and workout studs here, but how many football players?

2007 Tennessee Titans

After 3 straight losses to start the season, Tennessee gave the reigns to 2006 First Round pick, Vince Young, to see what he could do. Two losses in a row had Vince feeling low, but he led the Titans to an 8-3 record over the last 11 games, including some fantastic plays that had everyone voting Vince as the 2006 Rookie of the Year. Vince didn’t pass with the greatest of ease (51% completion rate), but he showed his winning attitude and ability to get it done when the game was on the line. Another player who had a huge year for Tennessee was Travis Henry. TH tallied 1,211 yards on the ground, finding the end zone 7 times. But Henry was cut for contract reasons, allowing him to find a new home in Denver this off season. LenDale White didn’t show much of his touchdown toting glory he had at USC, but should get plenty of opportunities now that he rests atop the Titan depth chart going into the ‘07 Draft. Defensively the Titans struggled throughout they year, but got better in the secondary later. Pacman Jones showed why he was the Titans 1st Round pick a couple years ago, but has since shown why his talents were ignored by a few other teams, by “Making it rain” inside a strip club, and being linked to a few shootings during the process. Overall, 2006 was a great leap forward for a young Titan team that was smack dab in the middle of rebuilding. Vince definitely proved his worth.

2007 Off-Season Plans:

Pacman Jones has put the Titans in the news one too many times for non-football related acts over his career, and none worse than being suspected as part of a shooting over NBA All Star Weekend. The young, super-talented corner has put his team in a bind going into the draft. After losing big name free agents, Drew Bennett, Travis Henry, Robaire Smith, and Bobby Wade to new teams, the Titans have to continue to rebuild through young talent on draft day. Adding a couple well known defensive players like Nick Harper, Ryan Fowler, and resigning Rien Long will prove to help the Titans get better defensively, but they’ll need much more to improve enough to sack a playoff spot in the very competitive AFC. But help is on the way. The Titans are in a perfect spot with the 19th overall pick in 2007. The Titans need help at wide receiver in a draft that is very deep at that position. For that reason alone, I think the Titans will go with another need in Round 1. Players like Sydney Rice, Steve Smith, and Robert Meachem could very well make it to their 2nd pick, so looking to build on defense seems to be the best move with their first selection. A defensive pass rushing freak, aka; Jarvis Moss, could be there for the taking at #19. Though Moss has shown his ups and downs, his ability is unquestioned, and thus the Titans, the very young Titans, would be smart to add this raw talent in the latter half of Round 1.

See the TITANS draft situation at Lucky’s Mock Draft!

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